It will be our first time at the resort, I’m trying to think of how much cash I may need to be. Are there any services that require cash that I wouldn’t be able to charge to the room or a credit card?
Basically all you really need cash for would be tips. If you were to go to the spa, use the store, order a bottle, etc. all that can be changed to the room and you pay at checkout. (don't forget the bill will be in pesos at first, I almost shit my pants wondering what I might have done when they handed me my bill).
We always bring $200 in $2 Bill's and a couple hundred extra for just in case money. Most banks can order the $2 cash if they don't have it in the till. I always tip with $2 Bill's. In Mexico, they almost never see them so they will always remember you. In the US, a lot of people think they are lucky. That's just how I roll. FYI...if you are not tipping, watch what people try to charge you with the exchange rate. Its typically 10-15% not in your favor.
Don't kill the messenger, and I understand giving them, but I recently read that the $2 bill is actually a pain in the ass for them and they can't really exchange them. The advice from locals was not to tip with these, because after you get a few of them the novelty wears off.
Exchange places here wont exchange $2 bills, so it's likely the staff wait until they have five or ten of them and swap them with a tourist for a $10 or $20. Of course, the staff will always accept them with a smile on their face. It's one of those things that used to be a novelty but as more people read about it and started doing it themselves then the novelty factor kind of wears off as it becomes more commonplace.
Is it worth converting to pesos instead, or is that not readily accepted? I heard years ago that some resort staff make almost as much as doctors do in Mexico so Im thinking that cash is cash, regardless of denomination or currency. But I dont live there so just throwing random thoughts out
Thanks @Steve I was going to message you on this just to confirm...not that I did not trust @ScubaSteve as his information is ususlly spot on. I will leave my $2bills at home. I will bring $3 bills instead
Well, the Peso is the National currency so tipping with them isn't a problem at all. Pesos are the currency the staff will use to pay their rent, fill their car with gas, buy groceries, pay bus fare, buy a beer, top up their cellphone and use for every other day to day expense. With USD they'll have to exchange them to Pesos before they can use them. Living here ourselves we use Pesos 100% of the time, and stockpile any Dollars until we visit the US. That's very wide of the mark. Most staff make less in a week than a Doctor makes in a day.
